First Clues Emerge About Identity Of Brit Terror Suspects
Posted August 10, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Officials in London aren’t saying much about the 24 people they’ve taken into custody, but it’s possible those charged are the enemy within.
Preliminary reports indicate all or most of the suspects are from Britain and that officials were working with the local South Asian community as they attempted to sort out the plot.
It’s not clear if all of the accused are actually British citizens.
Because of the sensitivity of the information and the delicate nature of the case, most lawmen haven’t commented on the main players in the plan.
But French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy notes he’s been told the suspects “appear to be of Pakistani origin.”
He didn’t give a source for his comment, but officials in France confirm he’s been in close contact with his U.K. counterparts.
That may explain another revelation – Pakistani intelligence experts admit they worked with Britain on the case.
An unnamed official in Islamabad reveals an Islamic militant arrested near the Afghan-Pakistan border several weeks ago apparently provided a lead that helped authorities uncover the plot and led to the arrests of at least “two or three local people” in Lahore and Karachi.
If those in custody turn out to have been born and raised in the U.K., it will mark the continuation of a troubling trend.
The suspects in the tragic July 7, 2005 London subway and bus bombings that claimed 52 lives were also homegrown, making them much harder to spot and to stop.
